Around 78 pc first-time voters voted: Poll dept

It was not only the youngsters who came out in large numbers, but also the senior citizens.

FIRST-TIME voters came out in high numbers to cast their votes in the Lok Sabha election in the city. According to the data compiled by the UT Election Department, as many as 77.93 per cent of the 33,484 voters in the 18-21 age-group cast their votes.

Of them, the voters in the 18-19 age-group will be issued certificates by the department.

“The voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years will be issued certificates by the Election Department, stating that they have voted in the election. There are more than such 23,000 voters. People turned out in large numbers to vote this time, breaking all records. An effort was put in by the department to create awareness among the people,” said UT Home Secretary-cum-Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar.

Polling in the city was held on April 10. A total of 73.84 per cent of the 6.13 lakh registered voters cast their votes. This was the highest polling ever in the city’s history. The fate of the candidates will be known on May 16 when the counting of votes takes place.

Of the total votes polled, 23 per cent were by voters in the 21 to 30 years age-group and a similar percentage was in the 31 to 40 years age-group. Senior citizens and those in the age-group of 18 to 21 years contributed 9 per cent each. Voters in the age-group of 41 to 50 years comprised 18 per cent while those in the 51 to 60 years age-group contributed 11 per cent.

It was not only the youngsters who came out in large numbers, but also the senior citizens. Of the 63,627 registered voters aged above 60 years, 71.03 per cent cast their votes.

Also, the women voters took the lead. In the total votes polled, 54 per cent were of women and 46 per cent of men. As many as 72.23 per cent women cast their votes against 71.67 per cent men. see also page 3